Bittersweet Symphony
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: AU. Ethical vampire Edgar Frog saves Jade from certain death in his own way, and helps teach her the ways of the vampire hero. Title inspired by the song Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve from the soundtrack to the 1999 film Cruel Intentions.


**Hey there, my fellow writers and readers. Well, here's a new Lost Boys/Jackie Chan Adventures crossover ficlet that I decided to cook up one day. I got the idea while listening to Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve from the soundtrack to the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, along with reading the Lost Boys fanfic** The Darkest Dream **, which was written by** Sunlight-Scars **on ff dot net (which, I might add, is an awesome story to read, especially when I need more story ideas, too).**

 **Disclaimer: The geniuses at Warner Bros own the Lost Boys film series, and John Rogers (also a genius) owns Jackie Chan Adventures. The lyrics to the song Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve belong to their respective owners. I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.**

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Bittersweet Symphony

 _'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life_  
 _Trying to make ends meet_  
 _You're a slave to the money, then you die_  
~The Verve, **Bittersweet Symphony**

His trademark secret smile adorning his handsome face, Edgar Frog watched the precious jewel of a vampire he had sired. His fangs were gleaming as he lay on his side under the bedsheets, listening to Jade while holding her close to him. Her voice was busy alternating between moaning and sighing. Finally, her mouth opened and her red tongue ran across her teeth – not forgetting the pair of small fangs in her mouth.

Besides being bone-white in color like Edgar's, Jade's fangs were small and kept well-hidden when she pretended to be normal. It was only when she was in danger from the criminal that liked to prey on children similar to her (as she and Edgar couldn't bear to have the blood of an innocent, hard-working person on their hands) that she would open her mouth and hiss, and the fangs would instantly reveal themselves in a second's notice.

Now she turned to Edgar, and was just in time to feel him gently stroke her face. Unlike most childes, who would try to pull away whenever they were touched by their sires in such a manner, Jade didn't mind a bit. She leaned into the caress while closing her light brown eyes at the same time. When it came to being caressed by Edgar, she liked it.

" _Vous êtes ma chéri, ma amour, ma compagnon_ (You are my darling, my love, my mate)," he whispered in her ear while pulling her close.

Unconsciously, Jade smiled to herself. _I had no idea Edgar was so fluent in the French language. Perhaps he studied it whenever he could find the time, maybe._

A few moments later, she opened her eyes. Luckily, she was just in time, for while Edgar looked deeply into those hazel-brown orbs of hers, he said, "Know full well what you are, and that it is of my doing. After all, it is my blood that gives you life."

That was true. Edgar had found Jade laying in an alleyway, almost dead from being slashed to death. Edgar instantly knew from how the wounds looked that the ghastly deed had been committed by a serial rapist/killer (as he had a talent for telling what kind of wounds were inflicted on someone by a criminal simply with one look at them). From Jade's perspective, it was a pretty neat ability to have.

Knowing that her would-be killer was still on the loose, Edgar first took Jade back to his trailer and helped her to sleep before placing a spell (which happened to be the good kind) on her, of course. Among other things, it would help regenerate her skin and heal the wounds she had gotten using his own blood. The blood of a vampire was said to be quite a powerful restorative, and Edgar knew that to be very true... very much so indeed.

Finally, after taking the time to assure her he would be back as soon as possible, Edgar managed to track down and find the person who had almost took away Jade's crimson life force. He felt he owed it to Jade to save her life. And Jade felt she couldn't agree more there.

Being a vampire hero, Edgar would usually make sure to enchant his criminal victim beforehand by casting a mesmerism spell before draining the criminal of his or her crimson life force. As he put it to Jade later, it was much easier that way.

For one thing, the mesmerism spell was definitely similar to what the black-and-yellow garden spider would do with the prey it caught in its web. Edgar would easily put the victims to sleep before killing them. But in Edgar's case, however, it was different, and in a good way at that.

However, that was where the similarity ended and the differences began. Unlike the garden spider, Edgar's fangs did not have any venom inside them, and he preferred to feed on the criminals.

"I'm saving more lives than I'm taking, and from my perspective, the criminals are the real monsters of society that should be taken out of this world."

When she thought about it later, Jade knew he was right. It had been those very words of his that had brought on Jade's epiphany only a few weeks ago. Being a vampire hero wasn't a job; it was part of who Edgar Frog was. And his belief that criminals deserved to die from a bite of a vampire like him was a good one as well. After all, he liked tracking down the criminals. And he was able to do so by using his keen sense of smell – which Jade remembered was kind of similar to a bloodhound's.

The same, and yet different – all at the same time.

As Jade mentally pulled herself back to the present, she realized that Edgar was right about one thing: being a vampire hero (or heroine) was a lot better than being the vampire version of a villain.

Edgar had seen her take to being an ethical vampire like a duck to water while watching her take down a pimp that had beaten a call girl almost to death and drained said pimp of his blood. _Go, Jade, go,_ he thought, grinning to himself.

 _Edgar's smile grew a little as Jade, her fangs turning small and hiding themselves, finally turned to the call girl, whose fear was replaced by relief when she realized she wouldn't have to worry about the pimp anymore. Jade took a moment to study her; she had pale skin, black hair and green eyes. Introducing herself as Rosa, she thanked Jade for saving her life._

 _"You're welcome, Rosa," Jade replied while smiling herself. Rosa's words, kind as they were, certainly made her feel good all over._

 _And why not?_

 _"I always heard that vampires were supposed to be evil. But I guess you've proved me wrong there tonight," Rosa remarked. "In light of your actions this evening, I dutifully admit that I have misjudged your character."_

 _Her gaze lingered on the body of the pimp for only a moment before turning back to Jade. "I see you are one of those vampires that has a sense of right and wrong, and has chosen to do right."_

 _Edgar, smiling still, nodded as though he was agreeing with what Rosa had said (which he was). What Rosa said next made him feel good all over._

 _"Job well done, Jade. I'm very proud of you."_

Edgar smiled at the memory, especially when remembering how Jade had helped Rosa become a much better person by getting her a high-paying job as a landlord of a brand-new apartment building, which Edgar had bought with the money he and Jade had gotten from the wealthy criminals whose blood they drained.

And speaking of which, the money also came in handy too. Jade even suggested Rosa use some to pay the bills before putting the rest of it into savings – which Rosa liked.

Also, from Rosa's perspective, her job as a landlord was a whole lot better than selling her body on the streets. For one thing, besides the money, she also got to wear a great uniform, and she had all the time she needed (which was more than enough) when it came to her hobbies; Edgar and Jade saw to that.

When Jade had asked her what her hobbies were one day, Rosa replied, "Well, Jade, basically my hobbies are writing in one of the four notebooks I have had ever since I was a teenager, and drawing in my sketchbook."

"I see," Jade replied. She thought for a moment. "And how old are you now?"

Rosa smiled. "I'm twenty-seven years old," she explained. "My birthday is two months from now."

"Hmm," Jade remarked, thinking it over, and then her eyes lit up. "Well, guess what? I have an idea."

"What is it, Jade?" asked Rosa. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled, wanting to know what kind of idea Jade had in mind. "I hope it's a good one."

Still smiling, Jade nodded, her hazel eyes also sparkling a little. "Oh, it is, Rosa – it is."

Rosa knew she had a point of sorts there. Crossing her heart with her left hand and raising her right one, she said, "I promise not to tell anyone else, as I have had lots of practice when it comes to keeping secrets."

As Rosa listened to Jade's whispering her idea into Rosa's ear, her eyes began to sparkle more.

"That sounds great!" she remarked in a whisper.

Jade nodded. "Indeed... but we have to keep it secret, just between the two of us – well, unless Edgar wants to know, of course. Then we should let him know."

Now it was Rosa's turn to nod. "I'll just tell him that it's something important, and that he should know about it."

She and Jade then exchanged smiles before heading over to the freezer and looking for some ice cream to eat. Contrary to what most humans believed about vampires, Jade and Edgar were able to eat human food most of the time – especially whenever they wanted to try something different for once. Besides, from Jade and Edgar's perspectives, it was a nice change from the blood of human criminals.

To make a long story short, Rosa's birthday turned out awesome. Even the chocolate cake was delicious.

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That night, as Jade slept, Edgar quietly crept into the room. Smiling at the sight of Jade – his precious jewel of a childe – he then slipped into the bed beside her and held her to him.

"Don't worry, Jade," he whispered into her ear. "Tonight, my brother Alan is helping track down the criminals, so you and I get a much needed rest of sorts."

Her eyes fluttered open a little and rested on Edgar's face; then Jade smiled. "That's great, Edgar. Good to know... that you have help in tracking down criminals, too," she remarked before going back to sleep.

Edgar nodded. When it came to things like tracking down and killing criminals, an ethical vampire needed all the help he or she could get; they couldn't do it alone. The concept of strength in numbers was true... and that definitely applied to ethical vampires as well.

 **Nice feedback is, as usual, very much appreciated, of course... :)**


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